One of the worst contributors to the global waste crisis is plastic cutlery. Each year, approximately 40 billion plastic utensils are thrown away after one use. And that's in the United States alone. But what if we had the convenience of disposable cutlery that was also made of 100% natural grains - corn, soy & wheat? Basically, what if we had edible spoons?

Edible spoons would solve several problems at once. First, it would massively cut down on plastic as a waste product. More than 8.3 billion tons of plastic has been produced since the 1950s, sixty percent of which is in a landfill or the natural environment. Second, the product life cycle would be very small, as materials could be sourced from farmers, manufactured, then sold back to them. 

Innovators across the world are coming up with such solutions. One such inventor is Narayana Peesapaty, who has designed cutlery made from millet, rice, and wheat flour. Such solutions are coming none too soon as India is an even worse offender of wasting single-use plastic forks and spoons. An estimated 120 billion pieces of disposable plastic utensils are discarded each year. 

But you can't talk about disposable silverware without mentioning TwentyFifty. This emerging company is on the cutting edge of designing consumable cutlery. Their edible spoons and forks compost in 30 days or less. Their goals is to take plastic utensils off the table and eliminate single-use polymers. 

Best of all, with an edible compostable spoon you don't have to sacrifice product quality for sustainability. TwentyFifty's patent-pending natural technology develops high strength in the tines so you can grab and hold a bite of pasta or chicken, as well as quinoa salad. The utensil is heat resistant to 170 degrees.

Click here to check out TwentyFifty's edible spoon.